Rayvan Teague woke up in the middle of the night on Wednesday. Technically, it was very early Thursday morning.

The Carrollton High School football coach simply couldn’t sleep.

And while preparing for a play-maker like Eastside’s Git Aiken will do that to you, Teague’s playoff insomnia actually had more to do with his excitement as tonight’s 7:30 second-round Class AAA playoff rematch with the Eagles at Homer Sharp Stadium in Covington drew closer.

Because even for a seasoned veteran like Teague with a state championship and 174 career wins to his credit, it never gets old — playoff football.

“As far as nerves, I don’t really get those anymore. But it is exciting. It’s fun to think about,” Teague said.

“It’s a chess match or a checker game every Friday night. To see the enthusiasm in the kids. For my staff to be excited. To give these kids and this community an opportunity to have something to be proud of and cheer for late into the fall when everyone else is through playing. You know, that’s a big responsibility on my shoulders, but I really enjoy the task.”

The task at hand tonight will be avenging a 21-9 second-round setback against top-seeded Eastside (9-2) a season ago.

And while the Trojans (10-1) certainly remember the game, that was then. This is now.

Carrollton senior center Conner Thomason said the team had a great week of practice and is focused on an Eagle ball club that has won eight straight, including a 31-13 first-round victory over Towers.

“We’ve worked really hard this season, and things are falling into place. We’re very fortunate to be in week No. 2 of the playoffs,” Thomason said. “They’re a tough opponent. They’re going to be ready and well-coached. We’re hoping to go in there and take care of business.”

The Eagles are led offensively by Aiken, the Region 8-AAA Player of the Year. The lightning-quick running back has rushed for 1,334 yards and 14 touchdowns this season, while also picking up 314 yards and four touchdowns through the air.

Teague said Aiken’s speed will be a major concern tonight.

“He’s exceptional. He’s the region player of the year. He’s extremely explosive. The most speed we’ve seen since the two kids from Ridgeland,” Teague said.

Eastside coach Rick Hurst called Aiken “a special runner.”

“He’s got as good field vision of anyone that I’ve ever coached,” Hurst said. “He can just make cuts that a lot of people have never seen. He doesn’t need a big hole and he can be in the secondary. He does a very good job of making people miss.”

Carrollton senior linebacker Clay Horton said containing Aiken, along with the rest of the Eastside play-makers, will be critical tonight. Giving up the big play proved to be the Trojans’ downfall against Ridgeland, a team that featured similar athleticism.

“They’ve got some extremely quick guys in the backfield. They can go the distance at any time, so we’re going to have to be sure to gang-tackle those guys and really get to the ball on Friday night,” Horton said.

Teague noted how preparing for the Eagles can be tricky because of their complexity on both sides of the ball.

“The offense they run is very complicated. Very fast-moving. Four and five wide all the time with speed motion,” Teague said. “They do a super job with it. We’ve not seen anything like it all year long. So it’s going to be quite a challenge for our defense.

“They’re a lot different from anybody we’ve played on defense, too. They’re very much a very aggressive, slanting, moving, stunting, blitzing team. So we haven’t really seen that that much. That’s going to be new to us. They’re very big and athletic on the defensive line. They can give us some problems there. We’re just going to have to be able to execute.”

Hurst thinks the Trojans are a much-improved team from the one he saw last season in Covington, saying the defense was much quicker and more experienced, while the offense has also evolved with more experience and athleticism.

Hurst was not able to be on the sidelines with his team in last week’s win over Towers after he and Eastside defensive coordinator Jason Tester were ejected from a Nov. 6 contest at Franklin County.

Hurst said it was a difficult ordeal, and one he never wants to experience again.

“But it was a learning experience even though I felt like what I did wasn’t justified for being ejected,” Hurst said. “But rules are rules, and we had to follow them. And we did. I’m just extremely proud of the kids in not letting it be a distraction and coming out and beating a very good football team in Towers. I’d say probably the best No. 4 seed in all of AAA.”

For second-seeded Carrollton, which beat Creekview, 31-14, last week at Grisham Stadium in its playoff opener, tonight will mark the first road contest since its Oct. 23 game at Central, which hardly constitutes as a road trip. The last time the Trojans left Carroll County was on Oct. 9 when they paid a visit to Haralson County.

Horton said he didn’t think it would be much of a problem, though, in getting back to the road routine.

“We feel like it’s not a problem at all,” Horton said. “You know, we’ve played on the road before and we’ve won on the road. It’s not a big deal at all.”

And being accustomed to deep playoff runs, the Trojans should be well-equipped to handle whatever is thrown their way tonight.

“They love this time of year,” Teague said. “With the freshmen joining us, we’re 120 strong. It’s just a great time to be a Trojan. To enjoy the fellowship and camaraderie out here.”

Horton agreed, saying he can’t wait to finally hit the field again tonight.

“Everybody’s real excited. Everybody’s real pumped up and kind of antsy,” Horton said. “We’re just ready to go out there on Friday night and show what we can do.

“We feel we’re as good as anybody in the state. So we’re ready to go out there and give it to them. We’ve been practicing hard all week. We practice as good as anybody, so we feel like our shot is as good as anybody’s.”

And as the Trojans face another win-or-go-home scenario, they’re ready to lay it all on the line and let tonight’s action take care of the rest.

“You never want it to end, but we’ve worked hard to get to this point,” Thomason said. “Only time can tell what happens.”